I know from comments and private emails I get that faces are harder than you would think for stitchers. The traditional way to work a face in needlepoint is with tent stitches, although there are quite a few people who use brick stitches instead. Either way works, but many folks report problems with the results. Problems seem to fall into two groups: the tent stitches themselves and the fine features such as eyes and mouth.
I don't have all the answers but I've probably made most of the possible mistakes in stitching faces over the years so I can tell you what I do to make sure my faces look as good as I can make them. First of all, I use tent stitches, usually basketweave, for skin. I use tent stitches and reverse tent (with an occasional cross stitch) for eyes and the mouth, and often use packed outline or stem stitch for eyebrows. There are many stitches that work for faces, but these are my old standbys. I stitch the skin with as perfect a basketweave stitch as I can muster and do features slowly and carefully, checking every 2-3 stitches to see if I need to pull out the stitches I've just done. The expression can be radically changed by just one stitch. Keep an eye on what you are creating so you can pull out anything that is giving your face an expression you don't want.
If your basketweave looks lumpy, with some stitches thicker than others despite your best efforts, that's usually a sign of too many plies in your needle. Try removing a ply or two or if you are using something like perle cotton, try a smaller diameter thread.
If your face looks slightly muddy, as if the canvas is showing through the thread, you probably aren't using enough thread. Add a ply or go up to a fatter diameter in your thread and see if that helps.
If you mix thread brands on your face (I used both Splendor silk floss and DMC cotton floss for Miko's skin tones) make sure that the threads are the same diameter.
If your basketweave has ridges, you probably have accidentally done two down (or up) rows together. Basketweave is done on the diagonal, alternating a row up with a row down. If you are interrupted and accidentally do two rows going in the same direction, you'll get a ridge. Threadneedle Street has a nice discussion of basketweave on their website with diagrams that clearly show how NP canvas is woven. You can use the weave to make sure you always know whether you are on an up or down row by always doing the down rows on the "poles" and the up rows on the "steps".
http://www.threadneedlestreet.com/Basketweave.html
I hope all this helps the face challenged to create a face they are proud of.
Written by Jane/Chilly Hollow
Blogging at http://chillyhollownp.blogspot.com
and at http://chstitchguides.blogspot.com
8 comments:
I find it very challenging to stitch a basketweave that truly looks good. Even when I learned how to stop and start threads with away waste knots, slide down and step up the canvas threads, go slowly, etc. I would not be satisfied. Sometimes, the result looked good, but the plied threads shifted later and it would get a little uneven on the surface. I presume that it the result of some uneven tension on the threads on the underside that later "resettle". I bought an out-of-print book about basketweave, devoured it, and keep trying. The best results I get thus far are when I used Needlepoint Inc. Silk. I don't know what it is about their silk, how they process it, etc. but it lays much better and stays in place. It makes my basketweave proficiency look better than it really is.
Judy, the right thread is important when you are doing basketweave. No matter how good my basketweave is when I use most threads, it sucks when I use perle cotton. You must have read Davie's Basketweave book (which is fabulous). I wish her family would reprint it but that is really really expensive. Here's the book to look for, folks. There's even a section for left handed stitchers.
http://www.daviehyman.com/book.htm
You're right - the author was Davie Hyman. I bought the book through a used bookseller on Amazon. It is great! I am a leftie, and this helped a lot.
I have trouble with perle cotton, too. I just did some basketweave a few nights ago with Kreinek's 1/16" ribbon in the purple laser color (026L), and it looks great! There is so much reflection that any imperfections are hidden by the refraction and reflection of light.
I have the blue "Luciana" mask from Leigh that I plan to stitch. I have been making a of threads and stitches that I might use. for the white face of the mask, I was thinking about using 1 strand of white silk (what is the whitest silk thread out there?) in skip tent/basketweave twill over the "up" (slide down the pole) weave threads, and 1 strand of Kreinek BF in Marshmallow or a similar color in Accentuate over the "down" (walk up the steps) threads. Any comments, ideas, or suggestions?
The threads and stitch you are considering will work, I think. Splendor has a very white white called S802 and I also like Impression's white silk/wool blend when I need a stark white. Caron's Snow in white is also lovely although a bit thick for what you want. Impressions is, too, actually. You should be able to get Splendor pretty easily in most shops.
Other tips to avoid diagonal hills/valleys:
Do as little burying on the back as is possible. If you have to bury, make sure that is is on the perfect horizontal or vertical. (Start every new strand with an in line waste knot, and end by drawing thread either across or down and drape it out the front. Only the very last thread needs to be buried into the stitching that is already done)
Make sure that you are not getting any overtwist if using a single strand of thread, as it causes variations in the diameter of the thread - which will show up as imperfections in your stitching.
Use a new needle and perfectly clean hands so you do not get that nasty streaking of color.
I agree: faces are a nightmare. Every one I have ever tried looks like they have eczema or acne.
How I wish i could recreate Miko's face.
Oh, Jason, surely they aren't that bad!? How about you stitch witch faces, which should be rather nasty looking? You can take advantage of your natural bent that way.
Thanks for the tips, Randi!
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